Winter Flu Weight Loss Program, the need for medical help

The dreaded winter flu is back here again with vengeance. The record warmer winter in Southeast Australian coast is no deterrent to virulent diseases this season.

A friend has been ill for more than a month and lost a significant one kilogram. I lost several kg some years ago and do not advocate nor relish the idea of taking such a weight loss program. Nobody should be envious.

It is well known that a cold is much easier to fight, and if managed properly, one could recover quickly within a couple of days.

However, a cold that is allowed to fester could lower immunity, and makes the patient even more vulnerable to other types of flu and illnesses.

Nowadays, with age and wisdom, we are taking all the necessary precautions to defend against winter bugs. One could take better care when the first signs are evident and try to ward off worsening of the illness. Having failed in preventing the onset of the next step, one could only try to seek medication and have a good rest.

It is incomprehensible why many modern folks are resistant and averse to treating a cold conservatively. For a mild illness, there are low potency counter cold tablets to relieve suffering from running nose, sore throat and respiratory discomfort.

Influenza which is complex and varied, is more intractable and challenging. Because the flu is highly contagious and spread by air and contact, one could only avoid it by not being exposed to infected people who cough and sneeze.

Self medication, alternative medicines and various types of therapies have become popular craze among professionals and a higher educated population. That  it works sometimes works also means that it may not work most of the time.

A wise person would know when there is a need to see a doctor  Panadol, lemon juice and honey only work for mild illness, not a full blown flu. Only medical professionals could diagnose accurately and prescribe the right type of anti-viral or anti-bacterial drugs. Rejecting more potent medicine and antibiotics based on negative report of drug abuse if a folly, if that is the most effective treatment for a worn and battled patient. Humans have evolved to a stage where medicine is vital for survival and healthy living and there is no turning back of the clock to allow for natural selection.

Bronchitis and pneumonia which originate from flu, could become fatal if not treated in time. It is not surprising why flu has caused more deaths than some serious pandemics. Seriously, older people, young children, patients with chronic heart and lung ailments and pregnant women should seek medical attention and not to take things lightly.

http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/handouts/bronchitis/bronchitis.html

http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/pneumonia/understanding-pneumonia.html

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=1&contentid=2325

Flu shots may stave off certain common viruses but it does not rule out getting others not covered. Don't be complacent. We are super humans and need to take extra care with having balanced nutrition by eating well, exercise in moderation and get sufficient rest.

I certainly do not encourage nor want myself in the shoes of weight losers as a result of serious illness. I do regret having lost weight drastically once, as well as many work hours and missed opportunities by procrastinating and not seeking medical help earlier. These are life lessons that will not be forgotten and too important not to be shared.

Drugged teenager dies tragically as drug pushers circumvent outlaw to continue selling

Popular and intelligent high school student Henry Kwan ended his young life with just a pop of a synthetic drug (LSD).

Whether the drug is legal, pure or tested are all immaterial. Narcotics should never be circulated and taken by kids or layman without doctors' prescription for recreational or self therapeutic reasons. LSD poses more risk than controlled medicine, not something that you could obtain at the school backyard or on the internet.

Different people respond and react differently to drugs especially those of unknown composition and sources. Ordinarily, the drug maker who is likely to be a high school student or amateur chemist hoped that the consumer would get high and the chemicals wear off and does little harm. However, there will a number, albeit a minority, who would react adversely to bogus drugs.  If not hallucination, psychosis, the effects could be respiratory difficulty or heart failure, as dangerous drugs are known for.

More will die and their distraught families will suffer for a long time if we hesitate to take strong action to stamp out the deadly malaise.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nsw/distraught-father-tells-of-teenagers-tragic-last-moments-20130607-2nvjp.html

For those who are observant or are logged into the grapevine of suburban gossips, it is not uncommon to see children as young as 10 to 12 doing drugs at the cafes and shopping centres.

The poison has been allowed to spread for a long time.

Shocking but it is the reality we live with but prefer to ignore or do not know how to deal with. There is too much freedom, lack of supervision and availability of easy money from doting working parents or grandparents, and teenagers' salaries for weekend work.

We have been cavalier and negligent because we did not think it will happen to us or in our vicinity. It is already too late to undo a dependency that is destroying our students and young professionals.

Many can still remember that a neurosurgeon was sentenced for manslaughter for supplying excessive amount of cocaine to a prostitute. If a medically trained personnel can be callous and inaccurate in diagnosing the safe level of narcotics for human consumption, how do we expect drug users to know better?

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/court-reduces-jail-sentence-over-neurosurgeon-suresh-nairs-cocaine-fueled-sex-sessions/story-e6freuy9-1226623391995

When individuals and peer groups cannot think clearly, self discipline or protect themselves, families and the state should step in to impose stricter rules and enforce them.

I am appalled, deeply concerned and disappointed that some adult businesses want to protect their financial interest more than compassion for accidental loss of human life.

Eros, the national adult retail and entertainment association, will distribute hologram stickers to mark packets of drugs that have been scientifically tested, implement an industry-wide ''code of practice'' for selling synthetic drugs and mount a legal challenge to proposed legislative changes that make it harder to sell the drugs.

Synthetic drugs are products containing chemicals artificially developed to mimic the effects of cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine. They exist in a grey legal area because manufacturers tweak their recipes to circumvent illegal drug classifications.

One new synthetic drug emerges on the European market every week and the two drugs believed to be involved in Henry Kwan's death, 25I-NBOMe and 25B-NBOMe, are among hundreds coming in to Australia.

Nearly one in 10 17-year-old boys and one in 20 17-year-old girls admitted to taking hallucinogens in the federal government's survey of secondary school students last year.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/legal-high-shops-mull-200m-campaign-20130607-2nvi9.html

While schools assured that students have been educated not to be experiment with unknown drugs, the message has not impressed upon those who need most. Contrary to common assumptions, drug dealing is not confined to the defiant and academically poorer students but everyone is vulnerable to the temptations.

The abuse has reached uncontrollable proportions with higher incidence of abuses, but more so because we don't know who would be the next innocent and unexpected victim. No compromise and excuses can delay measures to cut off supply of synthetic drugs. This is a worldwide problem which every government and citizen must take responsibility in eradicating.

http://health.syr.edu/education/synthetic-drugs.html